Customer Reviews

ART as 1: Japanese Professional Illustrators Vol. 1 (ARTas1® series) (ART as 1 series)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

this is the best collection of japanese illustrations ever! so much variety and so much to learn from.

I ran across "Art as 1" through a colleague. I realize it's somewhere between a catalog of available artists from Japan and a reference book, but I picked it up while I had to wait for something and flipped through it. I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it. This is absolutely delightful, full of beautiful art, and I was overwhelmed by the variety of styles.

The work of two artists in particular leapt off the page and into my heart. Tsuyoshi Nagano's movie-poster style of work is magnificent, particularly the "Star Wars" illustrations. And Susumu Uchida's paintings of fish and fishermen are breath-taking in detail and style. Wait, make it three artists. I also love Hitoshi Miura's "mechanical whale" sculpture. This isn't the only pure whimsy in the book, but it was my favorite.

I'm not an artist or a commercial graphics person, but it seems as if "Art as 1" should be a standard reference for advertisers and art schools alike. As for me, it's not a reference, it's now a "coffee table" book I share with friends.

I couldn't put the book down and was amazed by the work presented by the 43 artists. Many of the characters brought a smile to my face. I will use this book as a valuable resource for my clients who want something new, fresh, and original on their products.

I've never seen this caliber of Japanese artists released in English before, especially as a group like this. This book is perfect for folks that want to know who is huge in Japan. You can't turn on a TV or walk through a train station in Tokyo without seeing one of these artists works somewhere - they're all amazing. My only reservation is that I wish it were bigger than 150 pages! I'd pay more for even bigger. (Maybe Volume 2 will be? nudge, nudge.)

I'm sure this is a good resources for whom seeking the best and unique talented illustrators. Being an Japanese artist myself, I'm so proud of them, too.

One of the distinct pleasures of being a Studio Art major in college was simply browsing in the library. When I had a free afternoon, I would often sit down and leaf through the entire collection of illustration yearbooks, which covered American work as far back as the 1950s. I'm glad to have this book for a look at more recent work from another country. The styles represented run from the simple lines of HIRO-SHI and Iegamo's weird and whimsical cartoons, to the 3-D computer graphics of Hitoshi Miura and Kimiyuki Tsuji's shimmering waterlogged photography. My particular favorite is the hyperrealistic coelacanth courtesy of Susumu Uchida, but whichever way your tastes run, you're sure to find something interesting in this collection.

Don't let the plain cover fool you, this book is filled with great artwork!

The art in this book runs the gamut of mediums, from simple pencil drawings to paintings to sculpture to photography to computer animated. Some art is very urban and manga-oriented, and some is very classic looking. A personal favorite of mine is Hiromitsu Yokota-his "blissful seasons" are absolutely gorgeous.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in art. It is a collection of Japanese artists, but the art goes far beyond the traditional "manga" style that I expected when I first opened it. This book is full of a huge variety of art styles and is a great survey of a large and unique group of artists.

Overall, just a great book full of great artwork!

The vast majority of work displayed in this book is generic and pedestrian advertising illustration. A lot of it almost looks like stock illustration. The book's description and the reviews posted here made the volume sound cool, but the reality was a let down.

I prefer the variety, quality, and relevance of work offered in the American Illustration annual or even The Spectrum annual.

I was looking for another O'ekaki Sudoku book. This was not a puzzle book but a book of pictures. It was sent as a gift. So it was a disappointment.